Portland Bill Light, standing at 135 feet tall, is an imposing, fully functional lighthouse on the south Dorset coast in the UK. Its distinct red and white paint scheme has remained the same since it was completed in 1906, earning the lighthouse an iconic status among landscape photographers worldwide. The lighthouse is easy to find and access, but despite this, there are plenty of quiet photographic angles to explore on foot when leaving the confines of your vehicle.

The wind and sea around Portland Bill can produce dramatic photography opportunities, and these conditions drew me to the location in February 2024. Towards the winter sunset on this day, the robustly buffeting wind was averaging around thirty knots in speed, the tide was at its highest, and the spray from rebounding waves beneath my feet ensured my lens cloth was fully employed.

Feeling quite alone due to an absence of people around the location, whilst I was leaning into the wind and reassuring my tripod with a steadying hand, a small fleeting break in the otherwise dense clouds appeared at a fortuitous moment directly above the lighthouse releasing a pleasing patch of light to enhance my composition. I waited for what seemed an age but was, in reality, only a few seconds for what I hoped would turn out to be a lovely pattern of water to run off the rocks in front of me before activating the shutter with my remote control and, 1.6 seconds later, the picture was captured.

This was not my first visit to Portland Bill lighthouse, and it will certainly not be my last - I'm just waiting for some suitably poor winter weather for the next one!